


Referral

by this_empty_room, Tsewet



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Established Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, F/M, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 04:13:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4651842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/this_empty_room/pseuds/this_empty_room, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsewet/pseuds/Tsewet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Find out who pointed Oliver to the right direction</p>
            </blockquote>





	Referral

"Waaaaaait!" Felicity wailed as the last available elevator car was sliding shut. She ran, ignoring her protesting feet, as the doors opened up again to welcome her in. Standing inside was a man, hiding his exasperation with a polite smile as he held the elevator for her.

"Thank you very much!" She beamed, panting a little.

"Floor, Miss?" asked the man with an English accent.

"Oh! 50th, please," she responded with a sheepish smile, embarrassed at her absent-mindedness.

"Ah, the IT Department. I'm heading there as well," he replied as he pressed the floor button. He looked older and elegant, but the sad bags around his eyes and the worry masking his face indicated that the man was stressed. Given his mood, Felicity thought it would be best to stay silent than to tap her feet to break the tension.

As they waited for the doors to close, she hoped that another person needing an elevator ride would enter, and break up the uncomfortable atmosphere surrounding the anxious interviewee and distressed employee. In the next few seconds, though, the doors closed again, trapping them both inside.

As the car climbed up the floors, the man tried to dispel the awkward air. "I'm afraid we haven't met yet. I'm Walter, I work here." He extended a hand as he waited for her to snap out of her trance.

"Oh, hi! I'm Felicity Smoak; I don't work here," she blurted out. Then, she backtracked, "I mean, I currently don't work here, but I hope I'll be working here in the foreseeable future," she shared. She heard Walter chuckle as she realized that she unintentionally pumped a fist in the air. Felicity groaned and cast her head downward, when she saw Walter’s outstretched and ignored hand.

“Oops, sorry about that. Nice to meet you, Walter.” She grabbed his hand, shaking it with more eagerness than was probably appropriate.

"Hmm. Smoak, Smoak, Smoak... I think I've heard of your name somewhere," he wondered aloud as he released her hand. She looked at him as he placed his hand on his chin and let it it rest on the arm across his chest. Felicity wished she looked this graceful when she pondered on things, instead of unconsciously chewing on pens.

"Uh, you might be thinking of someone else. This is my first visit here," she noted.

"No, I don't think so. There was some talk that a very high-profile MIT graduate was applying for a position in the IT Department," he insisted. "I suppose that must be you, Miss Smoak."

"Really?!" she squealed unintentionally. "Their opinion must have changed five minutes ago, though, because that’s when my interview should have started," Felicity sighed. She sulked as she remembered her unfortunate predicament.

"Being late never did anybody any favors, yes. What happened, if you do not mind me asking?" Walter inquired, raising eyebrows.

“I just got in to Starling City an hour ago.” She tried to fight the frown forming on her face.

“From Massachusetts? You’ve been on the road since last night?” he asked, unable to hide his surprise at the revelation.

“Well, the appointment was not known to me until yesterday,” she revealed. Realising she may have come across as unprofessional, she bit her lip. “Not that I’m bad-mouthing the company I’m applying to, that is.”

"No, that was a mistake on our part, and I apologise on behalf of the company, Miss Smoak." Walter wore an apologetic smile. "Although it does make me curious why you chose to take on the hassle of driving all the way here for a job interview?” he confessed.

"What do you mean, Walter? And please, call me Felicity."

"Well, you are a very talented computer scientist, and while we do have a scientific arm, it pales in comparison to the research facilities at S.T.A.R. Labs or even Folston Tech. Both of these companies also house an excellent IT sector, if I’m not mistaken.”

"I want to change that," she took no time in answering.

"Change? I don't follow," Walter asked with genuine intrigue in his tone.

Felicity stared at the floor and tried to order her train of thought properly. Then, she directed her focus at him. "I don't want QC to pale in comparison. I want QC to be the default, go-to company for graduating talents,” she stated. “If you would have me, I'll work day and night, well, I'll still sleep, of course, but I'll give it my 97.6% effort to make the IT Department a state of the art division of Queen Consolidated." She looked at him with as much seriousness she could muster with her small face.

"What about to the remaining 2.4%?" Walter could not resist asking.

"I told you, I'm still going to sleep," Felicity answered, grinning.

Walter laughed. "Queen Consolidated would be very lucky to have you, then, Felicity!" he declared. "Besides being a talented and driven young woman, you have such a fresh sense of humor!"

"I'm glad I cheered you up. You looked down in the dumps a while ago," she said as she blushed at the compliment.

"Yes, well, as I found out today, losing two days worth of work because your computer is acting up is not the best way to start your day," he explained, a frown threatening to form on his features.

"Is that all?! I can check it out after the interview. There may be something that got fried in there." Felicity offered, but took it back, "That is, if that’s alright with you."

"I suppose that's a better way to go about it. I do not think the IT Department will be too happy to fix an old man's system instead of going about their work," he mumbled to himself. "Are you sure, though? It may be seriously, as they say, ‘whacked up’," Walter reasoned.

"Yup. It’s a hobby,” she confirmed. “You know, every time I build, upgrade, or fix something, I get this detective kind of feeling. Like I’m solving some kind of case,” Felicity explained. “I mean, what’s the worse you can do to a computer? Shoot guns at it?” she quipped.

Walter did not hide his delight. "Then I'm glad to have bumped into you, Miss Smoak."

"Come on, Walter, just call me Felicity!" she replied playfully. "I'm just happy to meet at least one person here who likes me."

The elevator bell rang, announcing their arrival to the 50th floor. Felicity fussed with her outfit, brushing away imaginary lint and dust from her coat and skirt. She felt her nervousness rushing back again.

"Let me at least put in a good word for you, Felicity," he suggested.

Felicity, still busy with fiddling with her hair and glasses, waved her free arm towards Walter. "You don't have to do that, Walter, besides---"

She was cut off as the elevator doors opened up slowly, revealing the populace of the IT Department standing up and staring at them both.

Flabbergasted, she whispered to Walter: "Woah. When you said I created quite a buzz, I did not expect the extent to be this massi---"

"Good morning, Mr. Steele!" announced the pudgy man standing at the cubicle nearest to the elevator.

Shaken, Felicity followed the direction of the man's stare and found that it landed on Walter.

"Mr. Steele? But Mr. Steele is the CE---Omigosh! Walter Steele! The Walter Steele?!" she sputtered, not believing the words that came out of her mouth.

"You'll find that my word around here is pretty influential, Miss Smoak," he teased. "Excuse me, Eddie," Walter called out to the man that greeted him.

"Yes, Mr. Steele?" Eddie approached the two of them, his face hinting at his wariness.

"This is Miss Felicity Smoak," he gestured a hand towards her. Eddie fought a gasp. "I'd like to excuse her tardiness for today. You see, Eddie, besides the short notice from our HR, Miss Smoak here was busy making big plans for the IT Department." Walter patted Eddie's shoulder as he looked at Felicity with pride.

"No worries, Mr. Steele, we understand." Eddie nodded to Walter, then turned to a blushing Felicity. "Welcome to Queen Consolidated, Miss Smoak. Let's start the interview, yes?" He offered a hand.

Dumbstruck, it took a few seconds for her to respond. "Yes!" she exclaimed as she shook his hand. She followed Eddie as he walked to a room, but her eyes were glued to Walter's face, catching his knowing smile as she walked away.

Before closing the door, she heard Walter mention his office’s floor number.

As if nobody knew where the CEO’s office was.

\------ 

There was a hesitant knock on his glass door. Walter disliked it greatly when employees, who were tasked to face him in his office, get timid; so he chose to ignore the knock. After a few seconds, two assertive taps on the glass caught his attention, and he finally lifted his head from his work to see the cause of the disturbance.

“Oliver?” Walter was taken aback to find his stepson standing outside, waving. He expected that he would not be able to speak to Oliver for days after the awkward dinner, let alone find him reluctantly asking for an audience in his office. He gestured with a hand to welcome him in.

“I’m surprised to find you here, Oliver. Do you need anything?” he asked as Oliver settled himself in the guest chair.

Oliver’s jaw was tight and he was shaking his head. Finally, he stopped and answered. “Yes. Sorry for disturbing you. I needed to know if there’s anyone you can refer who can help me.”

“What kind of help will you be needing?” Walter queried, his voice betraying his curiosity.

“I need someone who can help me with my laptop.” Oliver briefly lifted the tech equipment to show him. “There are some important files in here that need salvagi---” He was cut off by Walter’s raised hand.

“Say no more, Oliver. I know just the girl,” Walter answered with a tickled grin.

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lovely beta-reader in the person of this_empty_room who was very patient with me <3 This is my first beta'd piece, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I had fun writing it!


End file.
